The Cavalleggeri and Mascagni esplanade, Viale Italia with its architecture

Along the Spianata dei Cavalleggeri or Terrazza Mascagni, the Lumière brothers came to give a spectacular demonstration of their Cinematographe. Seen from above, this black-and-white-checked promenade is shaped like a violin. From here one can admire the floating silhouettes of the islands Gorgona and Capraia, sometimes even Corsica. The shallows of Meloria are closer, especially if you lie down to sunbathe on the outcrops of the bench stones, a yellowish-coloured calcarenite rock emerging from the Tyrrhenian Sea. Viale Italia, proceeding southwards, is rich in architectural testimonies: the Naval Academy, the vintage Hippodrome, the Grand Hotel Palazzo of 19th-century origin, those omega-shaped Casini d'Ardenza with a classical-style portico at its centre, a reminder of how the city of Labronica was a forerunner in Europe in seaside tourism, the prerogative of royal, noble and aristocratic families at the beginning. Even the Art Nouveau villas that can be admired just beyond Barriera Margherita project one back in time.